After approximately 3,840 PCT racedays, the season all comes down to the final 1 here in Italy. Or is it two RD? Or is it 48 because we’ve got 24 teams signed up? All great questions that you can ponder as we wait for the final HC race of the season Giro Dell’Emilia. Featuring 5 (and there’s no questioning that number) ascents of the San Luca climb, we will have one of our 3 final champions of the season! And with just 8 points separating the final relegation spots in PCT, this could make all the difference for JEWA TIROL and Sauber Petronas Racing.
Race History
2009
Constantino Zaballa
2010
Damiano Cunego
2011
Riccardo Ricco
2012
Nicolas Roche
2013
Francesco Ginanni
2014
Cesare Di Maggio
2015
Wilco Kelderman
2016
Damiano Cunego
2017
Domenik Klemme
2018
Jay McCarthy
2019
Eduard Alexander Beltran
2020
Oleksandr Prevar
2021
Tomohiro Kinoshita
2022
Tiesj Benoot
2023
Joseph Areruya
2024
Tiesj Benoot
Of course it is no surprise to see Benoot back for a chance at the 3-peat! He will headline the returners to the race as Areruya will be stuck competing at Il Lombardia just a few hundred kilometers away. But Benoot is not the only returning champion as Wilco Kelderman is still near the top of the favorite list with his final chance to take over the top spot, ten years after his first ascent to the podium. If Benoot and Kelderman can’t find their way to the top, let’s see who might join them on the champion’s list next year.
Favorites:
Name
FL
MO
MM
HI
ST
RS
SP
AC
FG
DH
Alexey Lutsenko
68
72
77
82
75
72
71
80
68
69
Sean De Bie
71
69
76
82
74
73
70
72
72
63
Marc Hirschi
71
77
79
81
78
78
66
75
82
77
Tiesj Benoot
71
75
78
81
75
74
69
71
62
66
Robert Stannard
73
73
77
81
75
76
69
78
77
69
Odd Christian Eiking
71
69
75
81
78
74
68
76
75
69
Aidan Van Niekerk
69
75
78
80
72
75
64
74
82
71
Gianni Moscon
71
73
77
80
76
77
60
73
71
69
Petr Vakoc
70
70
75
80
74
70
70
73
60
65
Wilco Kelderman
68
69
75
80
77
72
65
69
75
69
Michael Storer
70
75
77
79
72
73
64
74
75
66
Ivan Sosa
67
80
79
78
75
79
59
74
75
66
Natnael Tesfatsion
68
76
77
78
68
72
69
78
73
63
Matevz Govekar
72
72
75
78
73
75
70
78
74
71
Sven Erik Bystrom
71
67
73
78
74
71
67
75
77
72
Kristian Haugaard Jensen
69
68
73
78
74
70
64
73
79
71
Joshua Edmondson
69
68
73
78
73
70
69
74
67
71
Calvin Watson
70
65
72
78
76
72
62
72
73
61
Takeaki Amezawa
68
80
79
77
76
78
68
75
72
69
Aurelien Paret-Peintre
72
76
77
77
73
75
72
74
72
70
Muhamad Zawawi Azman
69
76
77
77
69
72
65
75
76
69
Xianjing Lyu
67
75
76
77
75
76
63
74
71
74
Alan Boileau
67
75
76
77
68
71
67
76
68
67
Michal Kwiatkowski
68
74
76
77
68
70
63
69
69
65
Felix Grossschartner
67
74
76
77
72
73
62
72
71
68
Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez
70
75
76
77
71
70
66
74
73
68
Salim Kipkemboi
67
75
76
77
68
73
63
76
73
68
Ronnilan Quita
74
74
76
77
75
75
71
74
83
72
Roman Seigle
68
72
75
77
73
73
63
72
70
69
Jhonatan Narvaez
70
72
75
77
71
71
73
74
73
67
Louis Blouwe
71
70
74
77
71
73
68
74
76
69
Kristoffer Skjerping
67
70
74
77
71
67
58
65
62
73
Oier Lazkano
65
71
74
77
68
71
64
75
79
62
Kees Duyvesteyn
68
70
74
77
67
71
64
76
75
67
Yacob Debesay
66
71
74
77
73
71
64
77
75
67
Pau Miquel
69
70
74
77
75
76
64
71
71
68
Olivier Le Gac
70
69
73
77
73
74
64
69
74
73
Kyeng Ho Min
68
79
78
76
75
77
62
66
69
69
Clement Berthet
65
77
77
76
70
75
62
75
74
75
Sebastian Henao
65
76
76
76
71
73
63
70
68
67
While it would be easy to look at Lutsenko first at the top of the table – this race is for the final relegation spot (and final safe spot) with two of the top 5 favorites from the contesting teams. De Bie is notoriously hit or miss in classics due to his remarkable strength on the hills, but questionable activity on the mountains. Will he be able to handle the five ascents and have enough in the tank to still sprint on the final lap?
Hirschi is the other relegation contender with his own share of demons. The expectations are always through the roof for this man and his skillset shows why. Sadly, sometimes he only manages to walk up the stairs to 2nd floor and simply can’t find the results that meet his expectations. This previewer gives Hirschi the edge of the two, but there still will be question marks all the way to the finish line on whether he can single-handedly keep the team up. Hirschi is the top point scorer in the race, which has to be a big bit of faith for his manager.
With that, Lutsenko does deserve his own time as a remarkably strong climber with fantastic acceleration to match anyone in the field. It should take more than a single attack to drop the Kazakh. Sitting at the other end of the standings, he’ll be trying to place his team into a 2nd place position in the PCT standings and confirm their slot in the PT.
A strong result from Benoot could also push the MOL Cycling team into the top 3 of the division. Let’s see if the pressure of defending two titles will be too much, or if he can benefit from other strong attackers to find his way to a victory. Benoot’s history this year says that he should be up near the top, but who knows how a final race will go.
Much farther down the list of favorites are two top 20 PCT scorers in Paret-Peintre and Amezawa. Both seem to be a tad out matched, but depending on the scenario, they could come up big. A more climbing focused race will benefit the Japanese rider, while the Frenchman will be hoping to sprint it out in a smaller group.
Sosa is the final man in the top 20 point scorers and will be fighting for bragging rights for McCormick. Should they score a massive upset and take a victory, jumping into 7th in the team standings could be in the cards and who knows whether that could find an extra space into the PT ranks. There’s no real risk to trying everything they can for their team – so let’s see if he goes for it all.
So many great puncheurs to list that this preview simply will not, but take a major gander through the list of favorites. Many teams with an option to win and should be proud of their ability to compete. For some, this race will be a way to celebrate the season while others will be looking for a final race to make something for themselves and earn their season wage. Shout out your favorites, your guess for who might miss the time cut, and anyone in between!
Without further ado… Giro Dell’Emilia! Enjoy the final reports and thanks again to all the reporters!
I am not sure this is hard enough for Sosa but definitely worth a try. A decent final race would make up for his sad capitulation in Morocco. He has Narvaez there for some support.
Giro Dell’Emilia 
